EU pledges 250 mln euros to Tunisia's coronavirus fight

The EU announced Saturday that it would grant 250 million euros to Tunisia to help fight the deadly new coronavirus and the adverse socio-economic effects of a lockdown. The bloc's enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi pledged the aid in a telephone call with Tunisia's foreign minister Noureddine Erray, according to a joint statement by the EU delegation in Tunis and the ministry.

Tunisia has so far declared five deaths from the COVID-19 respiratory disease, among 227 people confirmed to have been infected by the virus. A nighttime curfew came into effect on March 18, and daytime restrictions were imposed last Sunday, limiting movements to those of "extreme necessity".